Wilder Side || T.H. (2) [ON HOLD]

Chapter 15// Real life

"I'm so happy we're spending Thanksgiving together" Thera sighed happily, looking up to her boyfriend as they stepped out of the plane. Alex smiled in return, kissing her forehead, "I'm also very happy, I'm just hoping your parents will like me."

Before the young woman could assure him that he had no reason to worry, the couple heard a gasp coming from behind them, "Oh my god, you're Thera! And Alex!", the two turned around at the mention of their names, finding themselves in front of a teenage girl sporting a huge smile, "Hi, I'm Lea, I'm a huge fan, I love your music, you guys are awesome!" As she rambled on, the two smiled, surprised to have been recognized by a fan, since it still didn't happen a lot but were fast to answer and engage in a conversation. The couple took a couple pictures with the girl before they had to go.

"By the way, you guys are really cute together, I totally ship!" the teenager added before turning around and going her way. Alex chuckled lightly, glancing down at Thera, who was blushing at the comment, not used to these type of compliments.

"Let's go, Clara's going to burst from impatience" Thera said, a smile on her face.

Thera was right, as soon as her big sister saw them she rushed to say hi but was quick to ask what took them so long. Conversation was easy during the ride, as Clara and Alex had already met and got along quite well.

When they arrived at the house, Thera turned to him, seeing him glancing wearily at the front door of her childhood house. "Alex. They'll love you, you're amazing and I know my parents, they'll see that I love you." She reassured him, making him look at her before giving her a quick kiss, "I love you too, let's go." He smiled before getting out of the car just as the front door opened to reveal the Harrington parents.

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Thera was right: her parents had almost directly taken a liking to Alex and she couldn't be happier. They were now finished with their Thanksgiving meal and Thera found herself alone with her mom cleaning the kitchen up, the rest of the family and Alex continuing their conversation in the living room.

"So what do you think of Alex, mom?" Thera looked at her mom while doing the dishes, "He's great, I like him! And if he makes you happy, then I'm all for it" Christina smiled, looking at her youngest daughter.

"That means a lot mom, thank you." She answered. "He means a lot to you, huh?" Her mom continued, making Thera nod and smile "I love him". Seeing Thera smile, the older woman smiled but sighed.

"So you might not want to talk about it, but what about Tom? I never met the boy but Clara and Sam told me a lot about him and you both seemed really close, even on Instagram.".

Thera laughed "I still can't believed you got Instagram!" She paused before continuing, "Tom and I were close friends, but our friendship didn't work out. I mean, at first it did, but then I went on tour, he was in Canada filming and while I'm fully supportive of his career, I had the impression that he made no effort whatsoever to maintain our friendship. I get it, he had long hours but I also had big days with the flights, jetlag, rehearsals, and shows. I mean, I even stayed up late because we had set a time to facetime but he didn't even show up or bother to text me to warn me. I got tired of it so I told him to not talk to me again." Thera paused, slowly lifting her gaze from the dishes to her mom for her to see that Christina had stopped drying the dishes.

She continued, "But we started talking again and it kind of scares me because it's like we never stopped talking you know? It's so easy with him. I just don't want the same thing to happen, me caring more about him than he does about me." She finished her rant.

"Friendships are hard. Some take work, especially in your case, with your job. And let's be honest, you didn't exactly choose the easiest friendship: he lives in England and he's an actor. But the way you talk about him, your friendship makes me think that maybe your friendship is worth working on. I know you Thera, so I know when you care deeply about someone and let me tell you, you care a lot about Tom, more than you think." Christina finished, her last words catching Thera's attention.

"What do you mean, more than I think?" The 22 year old inquired. Her mom sighed, muttering, "Why did I say that?", still Thera insisted, making the woman give in, "I might be wrong and my timing isn't perfect but," She paused, searching for the right words, "What if you love Alex more like a friend?"

Thera opened her mouth in protest but her mom beat her to it, "I know how this sounds but hear me out. As I said, I may not have met that Tom but I saw enough on Instagram, heard enough from Clara and Sam to know that he made you really happy. Apparently when you talked about him, you would light up. Also, Matt told me that with him, you were happier than you ever were and you've known Matt for a long time." Christina finished, looking at her daughter warily.

Thera didn't know what to say, so she started with the easiest.

"You talk to Matt?" she asked, "No wait, it's not the most important. What the hell mom? Why would you say that? I'm in love with Alex, I told you! And yeah, Tom made me happy but he was a great friend, nothing else. I mean he is still my friend but things are not the same." Thera replied, confused.

"I'm sorry Thera, you know I just want you to be happy and I wanted to be honest with you." Christina answered softly, taking Thera's hands in her own. "I know mom, I know, don't worry." Thera pulled her into a hug.

"Are you guys done with the- Oh sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt" Alex suddenly entered, making the two women end their hug. "Don't worry we were just talking. How about I show you around the house?" Thera answered with a smile, taking Alex's hand and leading him out of the kitchen but not before throwing her mom a small smile to let her know that she wasn't mad.

The rest of the holidays went smoothly, Thera was happy to be reunited with her family and that Alex was with her. But she couldn't get her mom's words out of her head and doubt about her relationship with Alex grew day by day, slowly but surely.

A/N:

1. I'm so so sorry for updating so late, university got a little crazy and I was on vacation for a week before that so yeah, I didn't get to finish this chapter until today!

2. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE 500 READS <3 <3

3. Thera doubting her feelings???

Enjoy this chapter,

Charlotte xx